Twelve, that's how old Adrien was when he was snatched from the orphanage and forced into the world of pirates. The cruel and black hearted men who would sail the seas and on land steal anything valuable and kill anyone in their way. However when soliders started fighting back with their guns and muskets the population of pirates started to decrease. So they started to kidnap children and train them to be pirates. Everynight mothers and fathers would lock their doors and bar their windows, determined to protect their children at all costs. But sometimes the locks and bars just weren't strong enough and parents would wake up to find their child's bed empty the next morning. The town would echo with cries from mothers and curses from fathers for they knew that once a child is taken by pirates they are never seen again.

Adrien had lived in the orphanage since he was seven years old. His mother died and his father had left him. His father had told him that he'd be better off without him. The orphanage wasn't too bad, the nuns were kind and tended to each child as if they were her own. But most of the children were older and bigger boys who would pick on him. Then there was Chloe the daughter of local nobleman Andre Bourgeois, she would come around a lot but only because of her little crush on him which he found rather annoying. His only real friend was a black cat, no one knew where he came from he just appeared. Adrien called him Plagg.

It happened at night like it usually does, he was fast asleep in bed with Plagg at his feet when he heard a thud on the roof. The window creaked open, when he heard the sounds of boots hitting the floor he knew they were here. He stood perfectly still, hoping and praying they wouldn't take him. He hoped they would take one of the older boys they were certainly mean enough to be pirates. But they didn't go for the larger or older boys, they went after a younger boy, Max.

Max was so skinny and frail, he wouldn't last a day. So just when they pulled Max from his bed, Adrien jumped up yelling. "Take me! Take me! I'm stronger!"

Then they dropped Max and grabbed him in his place. Plagg quickly followed them back to the ship. Adrien was taken below deck where other children sat huddled together, scared and crying for their mothers. It consisted of three boys and a girl, he recognized one of them as Nino the candlemaker's son. He was just about to join them in their huddle when he came.

Hawkmoth, the cold and dark captain of the crew. Dressed head to toe in gray with steely, soulless eyes that struck fear into each of their scarrd little hearts.

"Now listen." He said in a voice as icy as his gaze. "I know you all miss your families but in time you will learn to forget them and they in turn shall forget you. I have brought you here to train you to be proper pirates. You will learn to fight, steal, sail, and kill. Anyone who defies me will be thrown overboard to drown."

Adrien shuttered, he couldn't swim. If he ever went overboard he'd be a goner. The captain then left them to sleep. In the morning the crew brought them aboard.

"Now your first job is to swab the deck." Hawkmoth ordered. "If you refuse you go overboard, if you fail to do it right you will not eat. Now work!"

For hours they worked harder than they ever did. If any of them cried Hawkmoth's second in command would smack them to keep them quiet. Alix cried more than any of them but Kim and Ivan the strongest of the boys, would stand in front of his fist and take the hit for her. After all how could someone be so cruel to hit a little girl?

When Adrien finished he was given scraps and bones to eat. As he ate his not so filling meal, he looked out to watch the sea. Despite his hatred of being a pirate's captive, he enjoyed being at sea. It made him think of his mother and how she would take him walking on the beach to watch the tide and the sunset over the horizon.

Suddenly he saw something in the water, it was shiny, sparkling, and red.

"Hey Nino. Do you see that?" Adrien asked.

"See what mate?" Nino said.

Adrien leaned farther out to get a better look, unaware he was too close.

"Um Adrien, I think you should back up."

But before he could follow Nino's advice, his foot slipped and he fell into the water.

"Boy overboard!" A pirate shouted.

"Get the lad out of there!" Hawkmoth ordered.

Down and down he fell, deeper and deeper into the ocean blue. He kicked his legs and waved his arms frantically, if he wasn't underwater he would be screaming. He had never been so scared in his life. Then he saw something swimming toward him. It was a little girl about ten years old with her hair tied into pigtails and bluebelle eyes. She smiled at him, he calmed down and smiled back. He then reached his arm out to her, her hands joined with his.

"Hello." She said. "I like you. Will you be my friend?"

He nodded, she pulled him closer and she planted a kiss on his lips. It was his first kiss and it made him feel a little embarrassed even though at the moment he was close to drowning until he became aware that now he could breathe underwater. Before he could ponder the logic of it he was pulled away from her by Hawkmoth and brought aboard the deck.

"Crazy boy!" He said. "If that ever happens again I'll let you sink!"

"Mate are you okay?" Nino said.

"Are you waterlogged?" Alix asked.

"I saw a girl!" Adrien said. "A little girl was down there."

"Had yourself a near death hallucination did you lad?" Another pirate asked.

"Enough! Back to work!" Hawkmoth ordered.

Plagg pulled a blanket from the deck and covered the shivering wet boy with it. Adrien stroked Plagg and stood up to work. From a distance the little girl rose to the surface and tearfully watched as the ship sailed away with her new friend on it. Then she dove back under the waves revealing a red fish tail that no one noticed.